A PERSONAL NOTE FROM PASTOR KAY:
If you weren’t in worship on Sunday, you missed a miracle. As I wrote about it in my journal this morning, I noticed the scripture at the top of the page: Proverbs 11:24 NLT ” The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be
refreshed.”
I celebrate God! And I celebrate generous people like you who responded to a need in EPIC proportions. At the end of worship, my head was spinning, my heart was full and I had a handful of cash that will help not one family, but TWO who desperately
need it. I didn’t ask for it. I certainly didn’t plan it. It happened because one humble man, new to our congregation, brought forward a wrinkled $10 bill, saying “I don’t have much, but I want to help. Maybe the congregation will add to this.”
You certainly did. That one act of unselfish compassion set a ball rolling that continues this week, as men from our church will cut and provide truckloads of wood, help winterize a drafty living space and share the love of God in true fashion. In case you
don’t know it, God is at work in our midst. Yesterday we went from being at church, to being the Church.
May you be refreshed, renewed with God’s Holy Spirit. Do it again, Lord! Do it again! Let us be your vessels of hope, love, compassion, justice, mercy. Use me, use us. “Let it be with me according to your will.”
THE JOURNEY begins….and continues….as we sweep into Advent with great expectations.
THE JOURNEY: Walking the Road to Bethlehem with Adam Hamilton begins November 20! There will be 5 sessions. The Sunday small group will meet in the Adult Sunday School room (multi-purpose room) from 9 – 9:45 a.m.
I am hoping that others of you will consider hosting a small group in your home. The books are available for $15 each, but are not required. If you are interested in hosting a small group please contact pastor Kay at 262-4657, 262-4958 or 529-5128.
In this program, Adam Hamilton travels with us via DVD from Nazareth to Bethlehem in this fascinating look at the birth of Jesus Christ. Using historical information, archaeological findings, and personal reflections, Hamilton illuminates this most amazing moment in history. We follow the footsteps of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and others, gaining insight into our own journeys with Christ.
Using this series, we can touch people deeply. We can bring new members into our church. We can remind people about the birth of Jesus and what it means to each of us. And we can help the members of our church and community grow together by providing a place where all of us can learn together.
Great Expectations
Okay, we’ll get this out in the open. I’m a Newbie. I’m the New Kid on the Block. I’m not new to Alaska – my husband and I have lived here 11 years. But I am new to Soldotna and the Kenai area. I am the new pastor of the Soldotna United Methodist Church, and…. I’m having a great time!
Being new can be stressful. There are new people to meet, new faces to recognize, new names to learn (lots of them!), new “traditions” to get familiar with and, yes, there are always “unwritten” rules and great expectations.
Everyone has them. Those rules that aren’t written down anywhere, but everyone expects the newcomer to know. “But we’ve always done it that way” and “EVERYONE knows that we have that meeting in that room every Tuesday!” It’s hard on a newcomer. It can be hard on the new pastor. It’s like every new person in town or in a church or group should come fully downloaded with the upgrade “How It’s Done Around Here.”
A Newbie like me has lots of questions. “Where’s the best place for pizza? For burgers? For coffee? (Actually, I already have some great answers to those questions!) Where is the phone company? Where is the bank? The cleaners? What’s going on? Where do we go? How do we get there?
I’m really enjoying living in Soldotna. I have been here since the first of July. I have experienced the wild Soldotna SUMMER. And now I am easing in to the more laid back fall season. A lot of people whose names and faces I carefully placed in this aging memory bank are now gone – back to their winter home in Arizona or California or Florida or some other warm place.
But people in this community have been very friendly and helpful so far. It may be different in the fall. In the summer, you have the tourists to blame. Later on, it’s all up to the locals!
Now, the reason I’m whining a little bit is simply to make this point: We need to learn better how to welcome people…especially in the church. Coming to a new church for the first time can be very uncomfortable and, even, frightening. The questions here are: Will I fit in? What should I wear? Will I be accepted? Will I know what to do? Where do I park? What door do I enter? Where do I sit? When do I stand? What hymnal do we use? (Hey! We don’t know these songs!) Will people overwhelm me? Will I be ignored? Will I have to hold hands or something? And WHERE is that restroom? Where is the nursery? Who will be taking care of my children? Are they safe? What if there is an emergency? Who do I ask…how do I know?
I know: I think we’ll just stay home and watch tv.
I’m praying for my congregation to take a new look around to see if we can open our hearts and our doors and our minds a little wider. I hope we will make church a little more accessible, a little easier to navigate, a little more Newbie friendly. It’s not that we are marketing anything. It’s that we believe we have something of worth, and we want to share it. It’s natural for humans to make little rituals and habits and ruts out of things we do. It’s how we make ourselves comfortable. But what makes us comfortable can often lead to building invisible walls and barriers. I know that we really don’t want that. We are called to be hospitable…to welcome the stranger…to love our neighbor. It’s everyone’s job, not just the pastor’s or the elders, or the deacons or the lay leader’s. We have joy to share. We have a message to tell. It’s important that we each invest ourselves in the ministry of Welcoming.
And in case you are new around here, welcome to Soldotna!
